Craigh Cornelius preparing for NFL tryout

UMW News Bureau

Montana Western's former record-breaking wide receiver Craigh Cornelius is working with human health and performance professor Roger Norris-Tull in preparation for NFL College Day. By Wally FeldtAs Montana Western’s former record-breaking wide receiver Craigh Cornelius prepares for NFL College Day in Missoula, Mont. in March, all training options are on the table.
With no previous formal sprint training, Cornelius recently competed in the Bobcat Open track meet hosted by Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont. It was the first time the Renton, Wash. native competed in a formal track meet.
The Bobcat Open presented an opportunity to see how his speed compared to college sprinters. Cornelius finished second in the 55 meters and first in the 200. Not bad for his first meet.
“I was really nervous before the 55 because I just didn't know what to expect, so my start wasn't the best,” Cornelius said. “In the 200, I was a lot more relaxed though, and it seemed a lot easier that the 55. All in all, it was a lot of fun."
Cornelius is working with Montana Western health and human performance professor Roger Norris-Tull using sprint training to improve his speed and quickness.
Norris-Tull has an extensive background in track and field. He was a sprinter at the University of Indiana. He coached in the high school ranks for four years. In collegiate coaching, Norris-Tull was an assistant for four years and the head coach for seven years at the University of Idaho. His teams won four conference championships, and he was selected the conference coach of the year four times as well as the NCAA Division I Track Coach of the the Year in 1983. Four of his athletes competed in the Olympics, and he also helped train the Jamaican, British and Norwegian Olympic bobsled teams in sprint training.
"Considering that it was the first two races in his life, Craigh did very well against some good college sprinters,” Norris-Tull said. “Especially in the 200, he ran like a veteran. I think he also liked the idea of running fast without worrying about getting hit by a defensive back."